Josh Donaldson

AL Injury Notes: Yordan, White Sox, Donaldson, A’s

By Connor Byrne | August 17, 2020 at 10:19pm CDT

Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez was out of their lineup for the second straight day on Monday on account of right knee soreness, and it doesn’t seem as if a return to a regular role is imminent. While Alvarez’s MRI on Monday came back negative, he may only be a pinch hitter for the club in the near term, Alyson Footer of MLB.com writes. Alvarez’s lack of availability (he didn’t debut until Aug. 14 because of coronavirus-related problems) has been an enormous blow to a Houston team that has also dealt with several other significant health woes in the early going. The club lost yet another standout Saturday when it placed outfielder Michael Brantley on the IL with a right quad injury.

General manager Rick Hahn issued updates Monday on a pair of injured White Sox, second baseman Nick Madrigal and left-hander Aaron Bummer (Twitter links via James Fegan of The Athletic). The news on Madrigal is encouraging, as Hahn said the rookie has resumed “virtually all baseball activities” and remains on track to return by the end of this month after separating his shoulder Aug. 5. On the other hand, there’s no timetable for Bummer, who went to the IL on Aug. 8 with a left biceps strain. The groundball-heavy Bummer was off to a great start before then and seemed as if he was on his way to a second straight season as one of the game’s most effective relievers. Now, Bummer only has a little more than a month to return to regular-season action, and he’ll have to go through a throwing program before then.
Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson isn’t dealing with any issues in his recovery from a right calf strain, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. Donaldson went on the IL on Aug. 7, and it remains unclear when the big-money offseason signing will return to their lineup. The 34-year-old came out of the gates slowly prior to the injury, albeit over a mere 27 plate appearances, as he hit .182/.296/.318 with one home run. Nevertheless, The Twins have started 15-8 and sit atop the AL Central – a division they won last season.
Athletics right-hander Burch Smith headed to the IL over the weekend with a a forearm strain, which is always ominous for a pitcher. Manager Bob Melvin said Monday that Smith does not have any structural damage, but it’s up in the air whether he’ll pitch again in 2020, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle relays. Smith has been part of a slew of organizations, but he finally seemed to find a home in Oakland this season before the injury. The 30-year-old has logged a 2.25 ERA/2.30 FIP with 9.75 K/9 and 0.75 BB/9 in 12 innings from the A’s bullpen.

Twins Place Josh Donaldson On IL

By Connor Byrne | August 7, 2020 at 6:55pm CDT

The Twins have placed third baseman Josh Donaldson on the injured list with a strained right calf, Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to report. The move’s retroactive to Aug. 4, though it’s unclear how long Donaldson will take to recover.

Minnesota has gone all week without Donaldson, who suffered the injury July 31. It’s especially concerning when you consider that calf issues played a role in Donaldson’s limited 2018 between the Blue Jays and Indians. The former MVP returned to health and form a year ago as a Brave, though, and that was enough to convince a Twins club that hopes to push for a World Series title to sign him to a four-year, $92MM contract in free agency over the winter. The 34-year-old has since accumulated 27 plate appearances as a Twin and batted .182/.296/.318, though the team has still gotten off to a spectacular 10-3 start.

With Donaldson unavailable over the past several days, the Twins have turned to Marwin Gonzalez and Ehire Adrianza at the hot corner. Gonzalez has enjoyed a nice start, but Adrianza has begun poorly.

Josh Donaldson Exits With Right Calf Tightness

By Connor Byrne | July 31, 2020 at 8:55pm CDT

Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson left their game against the Indians on Friday with right calf tightness, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. He’s day-to-day.

While we don’t know if this is a serious injury, it’s worth noting that right calf problems have troubled Donaldson in the past. They played a part in limiting the former AL MVP to just 52 games in 2018 between the Blue Jays and Indians. That was a contract year for Donaldson, who still scored a one-year, $23MM deal with the Braves in the ensuing offseason. He stayed healthy in Atlanta last season, batted .259/.379/.521 with 37 home runs in 659 plate appearances, and then joined the Twins on a four-year, $92MM pact over the winter.

So far, the 34-year-old Donaldson has batted a paltry .182/.296/.318 with one homer in 27 PA as a Twin, though one can’t draw conclusions from such a small sample size. The Twins are certainly counting on Donaldson to be a major force in their lineup this season and during coming years. If he does miss time as a result of this injury, though, the Twins have other experienced third base options in Ehire Adrianza (who came in for Donaldson on Friday), Marwin Gonzalez, Luis Arraez and Miguel Sano on their 30-man roster.

East Notes: Moose, Jays, Donaldson, Braves, N. Walker, deGrom

By Connor Byrne | March 6, 2020 at 9:40pm CDT

Mike Moustakas came off the market when he signed a surprisingly large contract (four years, $64MM) with the Reds in December. It turns out that the Blue Jays were among the runners-up for Moustakas, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who tweets that they made him a three-year, $30MM offer. The Reds obviously blew that proposal out of the water, however, and the Jays pivoted to a much cheaper corner infielder Travis Shaw (one year, $4MM). A third baseman for most of his career, Moustakas is set to handle second in Cincinnati. That position is spoken for in Toronto (Cavan Biggio), as is third (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), so it seems likely Moustakas would have worked at 1B extensively for the first time in his career had the club won the bidding for him. Instead, the Blue Jays will hope for a bounce-back season from Shaw, who was teammates with Moustakas in Milwaukee last year.

Let’s move over to the NL East…

The Braves lost their top free agent, Josh Donaldson, to the Twins’ four-year, $92MM offer over the winter. Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos acknowledged afterward that the team put forth an offer that came up short. Heyman has some details on it, reporting that the Braves were willing to go to four years in the range of $75MM to $90MM to retain Donaldson. That’s a wide gap, so it’s unknown just how much money Donaldson would have left on the table to re-sign with Atlanta. Regardless, the club now looks to be in much less impressive shape at third, where Austin Riley and Johan Camargo are competing for the starting role.
Infielder Neil Walker signed a minor league contract with the Phillies over the winter, but he has no plans to play below the MLB level. “I’m not going to concede to the notion of retiring as a 34-year-old who is in good shape,” Walker told Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription link). “But I’m not going to play in Triple A.” For now, Walker’s continuing to compete for a reserve role in Philadelphia, but if he’s unable to find a big league job with the Phillies or another team this season, it’s possible it’ll be the end of the line for the longtime second baseman. The switch-hitting Walker did still have something to offer at the plate last season, though, as he batted .261/.344/.395 (99 wRC+) in 381 trips.
As a back-to-back Cy Young winner, it doesn’t seem that Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom has to change anything. But the ace is now working on adding more curveballs into his repertoire, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News writes. According to FanGraphs, deGrom’s usage of the pitch ranged from 7.9 percent to 10.8 percent from 2014-18. The number dropped to 3 percent in 2019, when opposing hitters had their way with it to the tune of a .364 weighted on-base average. That was the only pitch deGrom threw last year that hitters could even muster a .300 mark against. He was dominant overall, notching a 2.43 ERA/2.67 FIP with 11.25 K/9 and 1.94 BB/9 over 204 innings.

Teams That Gained Or Lost Draft Picks Via Qualifying Offer Free Agents

By Mark Polishuk | January 26, 2020 at 7:49am CDT

Now that Marcell Ozuna has signed, all 10 of the players who were issued a one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer in November have settled on teams for the 2020 season. Of that group, two (Jose Abreu of the White Sox and Jake Odorizzi of the Twins) accepted their qualifying offers and returned to their clubs — Abreu, in fact, topped off his QO by signing a contract extension that will run through the 2022 season. Stephen Strasburg also isn’t changing uniforms, as the longtime Nationals ace rejected the club’s qualifying offer but eventually re-signed with Washington on a seven-year, $245MM deal.

That leaves us with seven QO players who will be playing on new teams in 2020, and as such, the draft compensation attached to those seven players has also now been allotted. Under the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the same compensation was handed out to all six teams who lost those players, as the entire sextet fell under the same financial criteria. The Mets, Cardinals, Braves, Giants, Nationals, and Astros all aren’t revenue-sharing recipients, nor did they exceed the luxury tax threshold in 2019, so all six teams will receive a compensatory draft pick between Competitive Balance Round B and the third round of the 2020 draft.

Here is how the so-called “Compensation Round” breaks down. The order of the picks is determined by worst record-to-best record from the 2019 season.

68. Giants (for Madison Bumgarner)
69. Giants (for Will Smith)
70. Mets (for Zack Wheeler)
71. Cardinals (for Marcell Ozuna)
72. Nationals (for Anthony Rendon)
73. Braves (for Josh Donaldson)
74. Astros (for Gerrit Cole)

San Francisco now possesses five of the first 87 picks in next June’s draft. With the Giants still in the NL wild card race last summer, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi opted to hang onto Bumgarner and Smith rather than trade either player, a decision that led to some criticism since San Francisco was widely considered to be closer to rebuilding than truly contending. The critics’ judgement grew even harsher after the Giants went 22-32 record in August and September and fell well short of the postseason. Still, given that teams were reluctant to part with top-flight young talent for even controllable players (let alone rentals like Bumgarner and Smith) at the trade deadline, Zaidi clearly felt that the two picks he could recoup from the qualifying offer process were more valuable than anything offered for the two Giants pitchers last July.

It’s worth noting that the 74th overall pick will be Houston’s first selection of the 2020 draft, after the Astros lost both their first- and second-highest selections in both 2020 and 2021 as part of their punishment for the sign-stealing scandal. Since the Red Sox are also under league investigation for their own alleged use of electronics to steal opponents’ signs in 2018, Boston could also potentially lose at least one pick in this year’s draft, so we can’t yet say that the 2020 draft order is finalized. Of course, the order could be further muddled if more trades occur involving picks from the two Competitive Balance Draft rounds, which are the only types of draft picks that can be traded. We’ve already seen the Rays and Cardinals swap their picks in Rounds A and B as part of the multi-player trade that sent Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to Tampa Bay earlier this month.

Let’s now look at the six teams who signed the seven QO-rejecting free agents, and see what those clubs had to give up in order to make the signings.

Yankees, for signing Gerrit Cole: Since New York exceeded the luxury tax threshold in 2019, they gave up their second- and fifth-round picks in the 2020 draft (a.k.a. their second- and fifth-highest selections). The Yankees also gave up $1MM in funds from their international signing bonus pool.

Diamondbacks, for signing Madison Bumgarner: As a team that didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold and was a revenue-sharing recipient, the D’Backs had to give up their third-highest draft choice to sign Bumgarner. This ended up being Arizona’s second-round selection — the team’s first two picks are their first-rounder (18th overall) and their pick in Competitive Balance Round A (33rd overall).

Twins, for signing Josh Donaldson: Minnesota also received revenue-sharing and didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold, so signing Donaldson put the Twins in position to give up their third-highest draft selection. However, the Twins are actually giving up their fourth-highest pick in the 2020 draft, which is their third-round selection. The Twins’ actual third selection is their pick in Competitive Balance Round B, but those picks aren’t eligible to be forfeited as compensation for QO free agent signings.

Angels, for signing Anthony Rendon: Since the Halos didn’t receive revenue-sharing funds and also didn’t pay any luxury tax money, they had to give up their second-highest draft pick (their second-rounder) and $500K in international bonus funds to sign Rendon.

Phillies, for signing Zack Wheeler: The Phillies surrendered their second-highest selection (their second-round pick) and $500K of their international bonus pool, since they were another team that didn’t exceed the luxury tax line and didn’t receive revenue-sharing money.

Braves, for signing Will Smith and Marcell Ozuna: The dual signings put Atlanta in line for a dual penalty. The Braves didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold and also didn’t receive revenue-sharing money, so they gave up their second-highest draft pick (their second-rounder) and $500K of international bonus money for Smith. In landing Ozuna, the Braves then had to also forfeit their third-round pick (their third-highest selection) and another $500K from their international bonus pool.

Losing two draft picks and $1MM in international pool money isn’t nothing, though these particular sanctions had less impact on the Braves than on other teams, which undoubtedly influenced their decisions. First of all, the compensatory pick Atlanta received for Donaldson is higher in the draft order than their third-round pick, so the net loss is only a second-round pick. Secondly, the Braves’ movement in the international market is still limited by the punishment handed out by Major League Baseball in November 2017 for Atlanta’s past international signing violations. Part of that punishment included the Braves’ pool for the 2020-21 international market being reduced by 50 percent — being so handcuffed in the international market anyway, the Braves probably felt $1MM in pool money was no great loss.

Twins Notes: Cruz, Donaldson, Hill

By Mark Polishuk | January 25, 2020 at 6:18pm CDT

Nelson Cruz hit .311/.392/.639 with 41 homers in his first season in Minnesota, making it an easy call for the Twins to exercise their $12MM club option on the veteran slugger for 2020. Cruz can be a free agent next winter, though GM Thad Levine told fans and reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) at this weekend’s TwinsFest fan event that “we are having ongoing conversations with [Cruz’s] agent to discuss mutual interest in the future.”

Though Cruz has continued to swing a mighty bat into his late 30’s, he signed with the Twins for just one guaranteed year (worth $14.3MM in guaranteed money) with the 2020 club option last winter, as his age and DH-only lineup deployment limited his market. It’s fair to assume that those same factors could impact Cruz again this coming offseason, even if he has another big season in 2020. Cruz turns 40 in July, so perhaps a modest one-year extension covering the 2021 season would be acceptable to both sides. The Twins would be making a minimal risk in an aging player who has shown no signs of falling off at the plate, while Cruz would get some extra reward and security, while sidestepping the free agent market to stay in a familiar environment with a contending team.

Here’s more from the Twin Cities….

The Twins’ signing of Josh Donaldson is chronicled by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes (subscription required) in a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the courtship between the two sides. Most of the deal’s financial elements (four years and $92MM, plus a club option for 2024) were already put forward by the Twins as early as mid-December, though that left several weeks of uncertainty on both sides as Donaldson pondered his options and began to learn more about the Minnesota organization. “There were times we thought we had a zero percent chance of signing (Donaldson). There were times we thought we had something a lot better,” Levine said. The process was also somewhat complicated by Levine going on vacation in late December, as chief baseball officer Derek Falvey then stepped in to continue negotiations with Donaldson’s representatives.
Rich Hill is still targeting early June for his return date to the majors, and the date of his debut in a Twins uniform. Hill told MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park and other reporters that he will begin baseball activities next week, as the veteran left-hander continues to recover from primary revision surgery in November. Though Hill pitched with a detached UCL for much of the 2019 season, the injury wasn’t serious enough to require Tommy John surgery, which is why he opted for the lesser-known primary revision procedure that offered a shorter recovery timeframe. “It’s only a six-year-old surgery, and it’s had a huge amount of success of people who have had it and come back. I think it’s above a 95 percent success rate, so it’s something that I’m extremely excited about,” Hill said. The Twins signed Hill to a one-year deal in December worth $3MM in guaranteed money, though Hill only needs to pitch as many as 25 innings to start unlocking the $9.5MM in extra incentive bonuses in the contract.

Anthopoulos On Donaldson, Ozuna, Rotation, Payroll

By Connor Byrne | January 24, 2020 at 1:31am CDT

The Braves took one of the last high-end free agents off the board when they inked Marcell Ozuna to a one-year, $18MM contract Tuesday, but the signing looks like a mere consolation prize for the team. After all, the Braves lost a better free agent the previous week when they saw third baseman Josh Donaldson agree to a four-year, $92MM pact with the Twins. The Braves prioritized re-signing Donaldson this offseason, general manager Alex Anthopoulos told Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Jeff Schultz of The Athletic in separate interviews, but they were simply unwilling to meet the Twins’ bid for the 34-year-old.

“I don’t blame him for a minute,” Anthopoulos said of Donaldson’s choice. “It’s a fantastic contract for him. He earned it. Would’ve loved to have him stay a Brave, but we ultimately had to make a decision. We felt like it was best for our club to go to a number and not go beyond that to get it done.”

In the end, the number Donaldson received “went north of where we thought it would be at the start of the offseason,” according to Anthopoulos, who added that “Josh gave us every opportunity to sign him back and every opportunity to get the deal done.” And Donaldson didn’t leave because of any payroll constraints hampering the Braves, per Anthopoulos, who noted the team “could’ve” matched the Twins’ offer. However, the executive just wasn’t comfortable doing so.

So now what for the Braves? Well, barring an unexpected trade for the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado or the Cubs’ Kris Bryant, it appears they’ll turn to Johan Camargo and Austin Riley – two third basemen who struggled last season – to pick up the slack at the hot corner. When they were trying to re-sign Donaldson, they were “also weighing the possibility that we would be blocking Riley or blocking Camargo from playing third base. That presents its own challenges,” Anthopoulos stated.

It’s anyone’s guess what the Braves will get from Camargo and Riley in 2020, but the addition of Ozuna should help cover for the loss of Donaldson’s offense to some extent. Anthopoulos acknowledged the Braves “likely” wouldn’t have signed Ozuna had they convinced Donaldson to come back, but Ozuna is nonetheless someone who excites the club. They believe Ozuna has untapped potential.

“Because of his stat line last year, we felt he was an undervalued player. We felt he was better than his .240 average and 29 home runs,” Anthopoulos said of Ozuna, who – for what it’s worth – was a Statcast darling in 2019. The 29-year-old ranked in the majors’ upper echelon in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage and expected weighted on-base average, to name a few key metrics.

Does the Ozuna acquisition mean the Braves will part with one of their outfielders (say, Ender Inciarte)? “I don’t think so,” Anthopoulos observed, noting there’s more room for extra options now that the league’s moving from a 25-man to a 26-man roster, and that “too many good players” is a high-class problem.

Elsewhere on their roster, the Braves made a noteworthy move earlier this offseason when they picked up left-hander Cole Hamels on a one-year, $18MM guarantee of his own. Now, although Anthopoulos opined that a team’s “never comfortable” with its rotation, he’s hopeful that “we can have one of our young guys or two take a step, like last year with (Max) Fried and (Mike) Soroka.”

Hamels, Fried, Soroka and Mike Foltynewicz look like shoo-ins to make up four-fifths of the Braves’ rotation at the start of the season, but the team did try to add another splashy name to the group earlier in the winter.

“We talked to some of the starters who got bigger, longer deals, whether that was (Hyun-Jin) Ryu, (Zack) Wheeler, Bumgarner,” Anthopoulos revealed. “We ultimately chose not to go to the same contract, whether it was length or total value.”

If the Braves’ rotation or some other part of their roster fails during the first few months of the season, perhaps the two-time defending NL East champions will find reinforcements leading up to the summer trade deadline. The Braves are already projected for a franchise-record Opening-Day payroll of $158MM – almost $45MM more than 2019’s season-starting outlay – but there may be more in the coffers. Anthopoulos said he “was given a quick yes” when he asked CEO Terry McGuirk for a spending increase during the prior two summers.

Twins Sign Josh Donaldson

By Steve Adams | January 22, 2020 at 11:25am CDT

JANUARY 22: The signing is now official. Donaldson’s pact also includes a five-team no-trade clause, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets.

JANUARY 15: The Twins have reportedly agreed to a four-year, $92MM contract with free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson. It’s said to include a $16MM club option for a fifth season, which comes with a $8MM buyout. Donaldson is represented by the MVP Sports Group.

The $92MM guarantee makes this the largest free-agent signing in team history and the second-largest contract the franchise has ever given out, trailing only Joe Mauer’s eight-year, $184MM mega-deal.

Minnesota has long been reported to hold interest in Donaldson after missing out on higher-end upgrades in the starting rotation earlier in the winter. By bringing Donaldson aboard, the Twins will shift the recently extended Miguel Sano across the diamond to first base, upgrading their infield defense substantially while adding one of the game’s most potent bats to what was already one of MLB’s best lineups in 2019.

Donaldson, 34, bounced back from an injury-ruined 2018 season to hit .259/.379/.521 with 37 home runs in 155 games/659 plate appearances with the Braves last season. That marked his fourth season of at least 33 home runs in the past five years, with the lone exception coming in 2018 when a calf injury held him to 52 games. His addition, incredibly, will give the Twins six players who hit 30 or more home runs in 2019; Sano, Nelson Cruz, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario and Mitch Garver also crossed the 30-homer threshold on a team that Rosario nicknamed the “Bomba Squad.” While that type of output can’t be expected to be repeated — at least, assuming the league corrects last year’s juiced ball — the Twins should still be in possession of perhaps baseball’s most powerful lineup.

For the Twins, Donaldson’s glove at third base is arguably as important as his offensive prowess. Despite playing last season at age 33, Donaldson tied for 17th among MLB infielders with +8 Outs Above Average (per Statcast). Sano, conversely, checked in at -5 in that same category, so shifting him across the diamond in favor of Donaldson will represent a marked upgrade to the team’s infield defense, which was quietly one of its most significant needs. Shortstop Jorge Polanco graded out poorly, as did rookie second baseman Luis Arraez. The team’s infield defense surely won’t be a strength in 2020, but it figures to be considerably better with Donaldson than it otherwise would have.

Given the Twins’ inability to upgrade their rotation in a notable way this winter, that improved defense will be all the more important. Minnesota has signed Homer Bailey and Rich Hill to affordable one-year deals but will otherwise rely upon a very similar starting staff to the one that looked overmatched in the 2019 American League Division Series. Jose Berrios remains under club control as an arbitration-eligible player, while Jake Odorizzi accepted a qualifying offer and Michael Pineda re-signed on a two-year, $20MM deal. There’s still room for the Twins to make an addition, of course, but the free-agent market has been largely picked over and the trade market doesn’t offer a clearly available top-of-the-rotation arm.

The addition of Donaldson should push the Twins to a new franchise record in payroll, eclipsing the previous mark of $129MM by a good margin. Assuming an even $21MM breakdown of the first four years of the deal, the Twins’ 2020 payroll will clock in at just shy of $140MM. Large as that number may be, the Twins’ total commitments will plummet to about $55MM in 2021; Odorizzi, Cruz, Bailey, Hill, Marwin Gonzalez, Alex Avila, Tyler Clippard, Trevor May and Ehire Adrianza are all lined up to become free agents.

Signing Donaldson, who rejected a qualifying offer from the Braves, will cost the Twins their third-highest pick in the 2020. That’s their Competitive Balance Round B selection — currently slotted to come in at No. 73 overall. The Braves, conversely, will receive a compensatory selection between the end of Competitive Balance Round B and the beginning of Round 3. Coincidentally, the comp pick they’ll receive will land in the exact same range as the pick that Minnesota is surrendering.

Certainly, given Donaldson’s age, there’s some risk with the deal. He’s generally been a durable commodity outside of that 2018 season, but Donaldson’s ability to remain an elite player into the middle years of this contract is more in question than is typical with younger free agents. Of course, with Cruz among the Twins’ many free agents next winter, Donaldson could eventually begin seeing some extra time at DH to help keep him productive. And, in the final season or two of the deal, it’s possible that he could even serve as the team’s primary designated hitter if that becomes necessary.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the offseason, it seems likely that the Twins will continue to at least parse the market for available pitching upgrades. The bullpen is in better shape than it was at the onset of free agency, but there’s potentially some room for another ’pen addition and certainly room for another starter to be brought into the fray. Just how much further owner Jim Pohlad is willing to push payroll and how willing president of baseball ops Derek Falvey is to part with young talent will ultimately dictate whether another splash is in the offing.

The Twins, of course, aren’t the only team impacted by this signing. The Braves now have a glaring hole in the middle of their lineup and a need at the hot corner. The Nationals, another finalist in the Donaldson mix, can turn to some combination of Starlin Castro, Asdrubal Cabrera or prospect Carter Kieboom at third base. That Donaldson landed in Minnesota also bodes well for both the Cubs and Rockies, if either plans to seriously entertain offers for their respective star third basemen, Kris Bryant and Nolan Arenado. The Twins wouldn’t necessarily have made a push to add a different third baseman had Donaldson signed elsewhere, having Sano already in the fold. But the Braves now appear to have a significant need at third base — creating a clear avenue to a potential trade for a third baseman of some type.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweeted news of the signing. Darren Wolfson of 1500 SKOR North Radio (via Twitter), Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (via Twitter), and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter) all reported contract details. This post was originally published on 1-14-20.

Twins Notes: Donaldson, Polanco, Sano

By Steve Adams | January 20, 2020 at 11:33am CDT

The Twins’ initial four-year offer to Josh Donaldson was for $84MM, per Phil Miller and La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Shortly thereafter, the team grew pessimistic about signing him, as reports that Donaldson was seeking a $110MM guarantee surfaced. Minnesota’s addition of a fifth-year option with a huge buyout ($16MM option, $8MM buyout) not only boosted the contract’s guarantee to $92MM but also increased the possibility of Donaldson eventually reaching the $100MM mark, which was important to his camp. That increase, of course, also helped the Twins to outbid the rest of the field, which included the Braves, Nationals and, to a lesser extent, the Dodgers and Rangers.

Donaldson himself chatted with Alison Mastrangelo of Channel 2 WSB News in Atlanta about his decision to choose the Twins over the Braves (Twitter links, with video). “Ultimately it wasn’t in the same realm for me [financially],” Donaldson said. “This is going to be my 13th year in the big leagues. I’ve been on a lot of one-year contracts, and the Twins were in a position to where they could offer me a lengthy deal where I thought it was right for me and my family.”

The third baseman called the opportunity to suit up for the Braves, who he grew up watching a “dream come true,” but added that Atlanta wound up “offering me late — like a day or so before.” A return simply “didn’t work out,” Donaldson summed. On the Twins, he expressed excitement over joining a contender with a deep lineup and noted that he’s had success hitting at Minneapolis’ Target Field throughout his career.

Twins Targeted Wheeler, Bumgarner, Ryu Before Winning Donaldson Sweepstakes

By TC Zencka | January 19, 2020 at 12:06am CDT

Before the holidays, the Twins offered Josh Donaldson a four-year, $84MM contract that would have made him the second-highest paid player in team history after Joe Mauer, writes Phil Miller in a profile well worth a read from the Star Tribune. Another interesting tidbit from Miller confirmed that Zack Wheeler had been the Twins’ primary target at the outset of the offseason, shifting only to Donaldson after missing out on Madison Bumgarner and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Donaldson offered a potent bat, of course, but the ability to improve their infield defense at third (and by effect, their pitching) also keyed the Twins on the Bringer of Rain.

Donaldson and his agent Dan Lozano fielded recruitment efforts from all corners of the Minnesota Twins extended universe before committing, from Miguel Sano over video eagerly offering to accommodate Donaldson by changing positions, to a former tennis professional and friend of Donaldson’s who happens to be a Twins fan, to the substantial recruitment effort put in ink by Twins’ ownership when they offered him a four-year, $92MM contract. The fifth year, $16MM team option helped push the deal over the edge, especially once the Twins’ agreed to set the buyout amount at $8MM. If the option is picked up, the deal becomes a five-year, $100MM pact.

Some of the heaviest lifting was done in a meeting between Donaldson, Lozano, Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli, General Manager Thad Levine and Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey. Baldelli sold Donaldson on clubhouse culture and his plans for deploying Donaldson. The front office put together metrics on their 2019 success and profiled some of the talent on its way to Minneapolis from the minor leagues, establishing a belief that the Twins will remain in contention throughout Donaldson’s tenure.

Misinformation persisted in the media throughout, with Lozano suspected of leaking the $110MM asking price in the hopes of a team with deep pockets (like the Dodgers) matching the number. It worked, in a way, as the Twins realized Donaldson must not have had the offer he wanted, so they set out with renewed enthusiasm (and more money). Obviously, $100MM turned out to be the magic number.

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